I want to be completely honest about something, I USED to judge stay-at-home moms.
I remember before I had children of my own and before I was a stepmom, I was the single crazy one of my friends who had a career which I LOVED and was passionate about. I would watch all my friends get married and then start families. I had all the same dreams as them, except for one, to be a stay-at-home mom.
I’ll never forget the day when I was having a conversation with one of my friends after she had her baby and I asked, “So when do you go back to work?” Her response was, “I’ll go back to work for a few weeks and then I’m quitting to be a stay-at-home mom.”
YIKES!! The horror!!
I immediately had all these thoughts running through my mind:
1. Why are you quitting you only have one child? It’s not THAT HARD!
2. You just don’t WANT to work.
3. Must be nice having your husband take care of you.
At the time, I truly believed everything I was telling myself. I believed that my friend, in a way, was giving up on herself because she wanted to stay home and raise her child. I thought she was making excuses and just didn’t want to work. Then for the next few years, I SWORE I would never be a stay-at-home mom. I liked making money too much.
Flash forward 4 years later, it happened to me. I found myself married, pregnant and of all things wanting to be a stay-at-home mom. What I underestimated was the deep love that I would have for my child. I didn’t understand at the time is I would be complete by this new little human entering my life.
My friend wasn’t “giving up” on anything. She became a mother. She experienced one of the most, if not the most, intense transitions you can possibly experience. She wanted to be with her child because being a mom is rewarding. Also, having one kid, two kids or three kids it’s all CHALLENGING! It takes all of your time and energy. It is a full-time job that never ends.
I’m sitting here writing this with my now 5-month-old son. I spent the morning getting my stepdaughters ready for school and now my day consists of playing with the baby while he is awake and trying to clean while he is asleep. (Which let’s be honest, isn’t that much!)
This is how I spend my days now and I can honestly say I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Being a stay-at-home mom isn’t a death sentence I once thought it was. It is AWESOME that a woman is able to stay home and raise her child. It is equally as awesome that there are women in the world who have babies and go back to work in 12 weeks and in some case, LESS THAN THAT!
Those women are rockstars.
It’s amazing to see what moms will do to provide for their families and what women are capable of. So what I learned from judging a stay-at-mom home, is to never judge a mom ever again.
